<p>Sun Devil Mat Notes & Statistics (pdf)</p>
<p><strong>TEMPE</strong> - The Arizona State University wrestling team will play host to its final home competition of the season at 2 p.m. Sunday inside Wells Fargo Arena as the No. 22 Cal Poly Mustangs visit Tempe for a Pac-10 Conference dual. The meeting between the Sun Devils (5-8, 1-1 Pac-10) and Mustangs (6-1, 2-1 Pac-10) will serve as Senior Day for two exceptional student-athletes: Anthony Robles (125) and Bubba Jenkins (157), both of which are in their final seasons.</p>
<p><strong>OPENING WHISTLE</strong><br/>• Sunday will be the final home dual for seniors Robles, Jenkins<br/>• Festive: Senior Day, Special Olympic Arizona & UFC Fighters all on hand<br/>• FS Arizona will web cast this weekend’s dual on foxsportsarizona.com (free)<br/>• After not being ranked last week, ASU is receiving votes in the Coaches Top 25<br/>• Sunday’s dual with #22 CPU is the first of four in a row against a Top 25 team<br/>• Robles (#2) and Jenkins (#4) remained in the national Top 5 this week<br/>• NCAA Coaches’ Rankings: Four Devils in first release of Top 33 standings<br/>• Home Cookin’ - Robles is 17-4 all-time in Tempe (won 9 in a row)<br/>• Robles has 23 wins, 16 of which are by technical fall (15+ point margin)<br/>• Robles leads the nation with 16 tech falls (second-most is 10)<br/>• ASU is 31-10-0 all-time against Cal Poly (17-2-0 in Tempe)<br/>• ASU is 82-24-1 all-time against current Pac-10 (128-24-1 vs. all-time Pac-10)<br/>• Three matches on Sunday are renewals in a season series</p>
<p><strong>SEVERAL THINGS GOING ON</strong><br/>There will be several things taking place along with the wrestling action on Sunday, so make sure you are there early to see it all:<br/>• <span class="c2">Senior Day</span>: around 1:50 p.m., senior Robles and Jenkins will be honored in a ceremony at the center of the mat<br/>• <span class="c2">Halftime</span>: Special Olympics Arizona will be on hand once again this week and will hold a power-lifting exhibition at halftime of the dual<br/>• <span class="c2">Post-Dual</span>: following the conclusion of the dual with the Mustangs, both seniors will be signing autographs for fans, as will three former Sun Devil wrestlers and current UFC fighters: Aaron Simpson, Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway.</p>
<p><strong>SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!</strong><br/>Just like with the previous four home duals this season, FS Arizona will be on hand inside Wells Fargo Arena to broadcast the dual with Scott Powell once again on the call with former Sun Devil All-American G.T. Taylor joining in on the action. To watch the free web cast, visit FoxSportsArizona.com and click on the banner at the top of the page. Live stats also will be available on the wrestling schedule page online.</p>
<p><strong>IN THE RANKINGS - TEAM</strong><br/>The Sun Devils are once again receiving votes in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll this week, one week after not receiving any. Penn State is the new top-ranked team while fellow Pac-10 team Boise State (#10), Oregon State (#20) and Cal Poly (#22) are the lone conference schools ranked.</p>
<p><strong>STRONG SCHEDULE</strong><br/>Looking at the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, eight of Arizona State’s opponents are currently ranked in the Top 25. Overall, ASU’s schedule includes duals with No. 2 Oklahoma State (L, 40-4), No. 8 Oklahoma (L, 32-7), No. 15 Iowa State, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 17 Kent State (L, 30-7), No. 19 American (L, 27-18) No. 20 Oregon State and No. 22 Cal Poly.</p>
<p><strong>FIRST OF FOUR</strong><br/>Sunday’s dual with No. 22 Cal Poly will mark the first of four duals in a row against a nationally ranked team for the Sun Devils, the next three of which will take place on the road. Starting next week, Arizona State will travel to No. 16 Nebraska and No. 15 Iowa State before taking on No. 20 Oregon State the following weekend. The only non-ranked team ASU will face is Stanford, two days after facing OSU.</p>
<p><strong>IN THE RANKINGS - INDIVIDUAL</strong><br/>According to Amateur Wrestling News, two Sun Devils remained ranked in the national Top 20 this week (January 25), including Anthony Robles, who is No. 2 at 125. The other ranked Sun Devil this week is Bubba Jenkins, who ranks fourth at 157 pounds. Several other Sun Devils are ranked in the Top 33 according to WrestlingReport.com, including Eric Starks (No. 28 at 174) and Luke Macchiaroli (No. 31 at 197). Levi Cooper is gaining more attention this week as InterMatWrestle.com and D1CollegeWrestling.com both have ranked No. 19 at heavyweight while Wrestling Report has him at No. 27 once again.</p>
<p><strong>NEW RANKINGS</strong><br/>Last year, the NCAA introduced new rankings that were based upon coaches votes combined with RPI and winning percentages to formulate at Top 33 list used to select the number of qualifiers at each weight class for the NCAA Championships (33 in each weight class). The first rankings were released on January 18 and four Sun Devils are currently holding Top 33 rankings with the Pac-10 Conference (so far) earning 37 qualifying positions (this can change before the Pac-10 Championships). For the Sun Devils, Anthony Robles is ranked No. 2 at 125; Bubba Jenkins is No. 4 at 157; Levi Cooper is No. 27 at heavyweight and Eric Starks is No. 28 at 174.</p>
<p><strong>HOME COOKIN’</strong><br/>In his career, Anthony Robles has wrestled on his home mat 21 times, posting a solid 17-4 record while going an unblemished 9-0 against Pac-10 foes. A winner of his last nine in row at home, Robles’ last loss came during his sophomore year when No. 11 Joey Fio of Oklahoma pinned him in 4:08 (January 19, 2009). In fact, all four of Robles’ losses have come to nationally ranked foes, which he holds a 6-4 record against in Tempe. In his junior and senior seasons, Robles is 8-0 with one win by major decision, four by technical fall (including last week’s 19-3 score against CS Bakersfield), one by fall and one by forfeit. The remaining win was a 12-10 decision over No. 5 Andrew Long of Iowa State, who led Robles, 10-3, heading to the third period before Robles chose top and eventually turned Long three times and did not let him escape to secure a 12-10 win.</p>
<p><strong>ROBLES ROLLING</strong><br/>So far this year, Robles has won 23 matches with 21 producing bonus points for the team, including 16 wins by technical fall. Excluding his two wins by fall, Robles has outscored his opponents 307-13 in the other 21 matches, having not been scored on in 14 of those wins, and defeating his foes by an average of 14.0 points. Looking back at the previous three seasons, Robles’ margin of victory was 5.21 as a freshman, 7.96 as a sophomore and 8.12 as a junior, more than five points less than this season. And, his 16 wins by technical fall this year are fewer than only two of his teammates’ overall wins (19, 17).</p>
<p><strong>LEADING THE NATION</strong><br/>Looking over the statistics on the NWCA web site, Anthony Robles currently leads the nation (across all weight classes) with his 16 wins by technical fall. The closest to him in that category is the 10 recorded by Penn State’s David Taylor (157).</p>
<p><strong>CLIMBING HIGHER</strong><br/>With his title in Reno, Robles not only remained undefeated on the season, but he also collected the 100th victory of his stellar career, moving to 100-23 all-time at Arizona State. Following the dual with CS Bakersfield, Robles is now 109-23 all-time and ranks 15th in career wins while his 48-6 record in dual matches gives him the 15th-most wins in a career. If Robles wins all five of his remaining duals this year, he will finish his career with a 53-6 dual record and will enter the Pac-10 Championships with 114 career victories. If that is the case, Robles would finish his career tied for 10th in dual victories with Aaron Simpson (1995-98) while standing in a tie for 12th on the overall wins list with current Assistant Coach Brian Stith (2003-07).</p>
<p><strong>SCOUTING: CAL POLY</strong><br/>Co-head coaches John Azevedo and Mark Perry’s Mustangs enter the weekend with a 6-1 record overall and a 2-1 mark in the Pac-10 after suffering their first loss of the season last weekend, 29-6, at No. 10 Boise State. Cal Poly, who will play host to CS Bakersfield on Friday night before traveling to Tempe, has defeated one common opponent of ASU’s with their 36-14 defeat of CS Fullerton earlier this season. Individual, the Mustangs have three ranked in the Top 20, including No. 2 Boris Novachkov, who is 20-1 at 141 pounds. Also ranked are No. 15 Filip Novachkov (133) and No. 17 Ryan DesRoches (165).</p>
<p><strong>THE SERIES: SUN DEVILS vs. MUSTANGS</strong><br/>Arizona State leads the all-time series, 31-10-0, but lost the last meeting, 20-18, in San Luis Obispo last year. The Sun Devils holds a 17-2-0 all-time edge in duals held in Tempe and have won 12 in a row dating back to a 23-13 loss on December 10, 1982. The last time the teams met in Tempe, ASU won, 36-10, on January 31, 2009.</p>
<p><strong>FAMILIAR FACES</strong><br/>Sunday could see three rematches from earlier this season as several Sun Devils and Mustangs have already met up in tournament action. At 149 pounds, Tai Fukumoto could face Stephen Thalin (one of two possibilities), who defeated the Sun Devil, 6-0, at the Fullerton Open. At 165, Te Edwards has been on the short end of two matches with No. 17 Ryan DesRoches, falling in 2:56 at the Fullerton Open before dropping an 8-6 decision in Reno. At heavyweight, Levi Cooper defeated Atticus Disney, 9-4, at the Reno event en route to his tournament title.</p>
<p><strong>PAC-10 PROSPERITY</strong><br/>Dating back to Arizona State joining the conference for the 1978-79 season, the Sun Devils have been one of 18 different schools that called the Pac-10 home with ASU and six others still competing (including Boise State, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, CS Fullerton, Oregon State and Stanford). Against current members of the Pac-10, ASU holds an 82-23-1 all-time record and stands 128-23-1 all-time when including all 17 teams that are/have been in the Pac-10.</p>
<p><strong>BY THE NUMBERS: PAC-10 SUCCESS</strong><br/>In the 32 years the Sun Devils have competed in the Pac-10 Conference, they have won 16 championship crowns and 100 individual Pac-10 titles. When you include all 48 years the Pac-10 has sponsored a wrestling championship, the Sun Devils trail only Oregon State in both categories as the Beavers have won 17 team titles and 117 individual titles. Also since ASU joined the conference, the Sun Devils and Boise State are the only two schools to have won at least one individual title in each of the 10 current weight classes while ASU is the only school in Pac-10 history to win at least one title in each of the 19 weight classes that have been used since 1979.</p>
<p><strong>QUICK RECAP: CS BAKERSFIELD DUAL</strong><br/>Despite giving up 12 points on two forfeits because of injury, the Sun Devils battled tough and split the remaining eight matches, 4-4, with the visiting Roadrunners of CS Bakersfield. Although ASU outscored CSUB in those eight matches, 17-15, the forfeits put the visitors on top in the end, 27-17. Anthony Robles (125) won his 16th technical fall of the year and Te Edwards fought off a takedown attempt to stick his foe at 165 for ASU’s bonus point wins. Jake Meredith (184) and Levi Cooper (285) both won by decision.</p>
<p><strong>FAMILIAR FACE DEFEATED</strong><br/>The final match of the dual pitted a pair of former teammates and training partners together as Levi Cooper defeated David Morgan, 3-1. Cooper, who began his career three years at Portland State, transferred to CSUB last year where he redshirted after PSU’s program was cut. This past summer, Cooper left the Roadrunners and came to ASU, where he has built a 19-6 overall record this year and ranks among the Top 30 nationally.</p>
<p><strong>MACCHIAROLI’S TOUGH ROAD</strong><br/>After a close loss last weekend to the No. 17-ranked wrestler in the nation, Luke Macchiaroli’s remaining five duals will continue to see him face some of the best in the nation. The redshirt freshman, who is not yet in the national Top 33, could find his way into those rankings if he can defeat some of his upcoming opponents, which include No. 30 Ryan Smith (Cal Poly), No. 22 Andy Johnson (Nebraska), No. 14 Jerome Ward (Iowa State), No. 16 Chad Hanke (Oregon State) and No. 10 Zach Geisen (Stanford). Following all those duals, Macchiaroli could very well see several of those opponents again in the Pac-10 Championships.</p>
<p><strong>TALE OF TWO TOURNAMENTS</strong><br/>The last multiple-dual weekends have been quite the opposites for Jake Meredith as the junior has gone 4-3 at 184 pounds. After going 0-3 at the Virginia Duals, including two close decision losses, Meredith turned it around at the Lone Star Duals as he blasted all four of his foes for a 4-0 record. The closest match Meredith had was a 10-3 decision. He also posted two falls (4:05 and 1:03) while also scoring a 16-5 major decision as well.</p>
<p><strong>NOT YOUR AVERAGE HEAVYWEIGHT</strong><br/>Since the start of the Reno Tournament of Champions, which he won, heavyweight Levi Cooper has won 12-of-14 matches with his two losses coming to nationally-ranked foes. In those 11 wins, Cooper has been an uncharacteristic heavyweight as only two of those matches were the low-scoring, one-point decisions the big men usually produce. Taking out his 3-2 decision win, Cooper has won by an average of 7.14 points (in seven matches) while adding two pins (2:49 and 6:57) and one win by forfeit. Cooper’s last win was more of the stereotypical scoring, winning, 3-1, over David Morgan of CS Bakersfield.</p>
<p><strong>ALL-STAR WINS</strong><br/>Although the results won’t count toward their season and career records, both Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins dominated at the 45th NWCA All-Star Classic in Fresno, Calif., as the Sun Devil posted the only two wins by something other than a decision. First up was No. 3 Robles, who scored a 20-2 technical fall over No. 4 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) at 125 pounds. Then, Jenkins took to the mat at 157 pounds as the No. 6 Sun Devil upset No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) with a 12-4 major decision. Only three other matches contested saw a wrestler win by four or more points at the annual exhibition event.</p>
<p><strong>COPPER STATE COMPETITIONS</strong><br/>With the two wins on the opening day of the season, the Sun Devils improved to 64-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona and extended their winning streak to 44 in a row in the process. The last time Arizona State lost to a fellow Copper State school came on Feb. 13, 1973, when visiting Arizona won, 18-17. The Sun Devils also improved to 28-6-0 all-time in road duals inside the state after winning their 19th and 20th in a row.</p>
<p><strong>NEXT TIME OUT</strong><br/>Arizona State hits the road next weekend for a pair of nationally ranked foes as the Sun Devils travel to face No. 16 Nebraska and No. 15 Iowa State. The Sun Devils and Huskers meet at 7 p.m. CT in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday before ASU takes on the Cyclones at 2 p.m. CT in Ames, Iowa.</p>
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